Cornell & Diehl Bradyville

Cornell & Diehl - Bradyville.

Supplied in a pouch, from bulk.

Quite a well rubbed ribbon, medium brown, and the moisture's just right. The main feature of the pouch-note is the brandy.

The smoke carries a definite aromatic character. If I'm honest the brandy doesn't come over as sweet, or flavoursome, as is often the case. From the brandy the bitterness of the alcohol beats any sweetness. The tobaccos have a pleasant enough flavour, though: a sweet brown Cavendish highlighted with rusticity from the Burley and some Virginia fruit. Brown Cavendish, NOT black as per description. If it isn't approached with care Brady' can burn fast and warm. But, it doesn't bite.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: pleasant.

Bradyville? It's not a rubbish smoke, I've had worse, but it lacks the assets to raise the result from two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

I picked up this blend bulk I believe well over a year ago. Finally got around to smoking it recently and it's a delightful smoke. The cognac offers a sweet and flavorful element of the smoke and also is quite fruity at times. I almost get a light creamy strawberry flavor and almost like caramel in a way. Burns beautifully and the flavor lasts for nearly the entire time. It is not a goopy aromatic but it's still got more moisture than most C&D blends. I've only smoked it in cobs and wouldn't want to have it any other way.

Cut: Fine Ribbon Tin Note: Strong armoa of Brandy Moisture: A bit moist, but smokeable directly out of the tin

At first light, I found a lot of sweetness between the brandy and the tobaccos. The Burley gives it some body. This is not a black cavendish - but a browner leaf. I don't get too much of the chocolate/cocoa as noted in the TR description. A much more fruity & alcohol flavoring. I could imagine, however, a batch to batch or even a tin to tin difference, as is my personal experience with C&D.

The tobacco needs to be sipped, and treated carefully or it will burn extremely hot. I did not experience any bite.

Here’s an aromatic sleeper by C&D. It has a pouch note consistent with the advertised brandy and chocolate. This is a mix of ribbon and cube cut burley. The cubes deteriorate fairly readily into innumerable 3mm square flakes. This is great material to get a pipe lit, but not great when sucked right through the draft hole. Light up gives distinct chocolate notes that become more like dark cocoa powder as the bowl smolders down. There are some pleasant notes of crisp leaves and loamy fresh earth. This aro burns hot and wet, but only bites the tongue after numerous consecutive bowls.

There are two qualities about this blend that make it fairly unique. The first is that this blend tasted sweet to me in a way that pipe tobaccos generally do not. There was a sweetness left on the lips analogous to what one might get from a swisher or similar cheap cigarillo. The other notable quality was the downright weird taste and snork that I can only liken to a hot sauna with the wood and hot stones. It is not unpleasant, but weird, reminding me of the loads of time I have spent in hotel pools and the associated saunas.

This blend appears to be a reboot/rework of Craig’s discontinued “after eight.”